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The Best ofBob’s WiningsTasting Notes from a Beer Drinker
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This page contains Winings from the 3rd Quarter of the year 2000.
To contact WinoBob, click here
9/29/00
1996 Joseph Phelps Le Mistral
$ (20.00)
A California wine from a major producer for 20 dollars, a needle in a hay stack.
This one is a great buy. As
a Rhone Blend, there is fruit and spice and complexity to this wine.
From the first taste, this wine was smooth, and flavorful.
It is hard to find, so when you see it, buy several bottles.
Once you taste this one, you will be glad you still have several bottles
in the basement. Your friends will
be impressed and you will feel great that it only cost a Jackson.
9/27/00
Since I have not heard from my wino friends on their most memorable wine experiences, I figure I must start it. Tonight, I had one of those wine moments that will burn long in my memory. On a business trip in Chicago, I got together with customers for dinner at the world famous Harry Carey’s. I made the selection because I wanted a Big-Ass steak and this is one for the books. I also noticed on the wall of the restaurant that they have received the Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence from 1990-1999. I selected the NY strip with a spicy peppercorn topping. The wine choice for such a dinner?? Anyone? Anyone? Buehler? Anyone? Yes, that’s right, a Chateauneuf du Pape. Unfortunately, this wine was not flavorful enough to bother writing down the name. Then, several other people that we were expecting showed up and we retired to the bar area and ordered another bottle. As we caught up on business issues, the wine spilled out an aroma that we all knew would be great. The wine opened up, conversation flowed and the hours passed with laughter. Bob Seger and CSN played in the background and the wine warmed us and made the conversation flow easily. It was one of those times that conversation, company and the wine all worked together to make for a great night.
1994
Les Nobles River Hermitage $$ (though 54.00 at the
restaurant- I guess this is a 30.00 bottle retail)
Rich fruit flavor, full chewy body,
and a smooth finish put this Northern Rhone at the top of my list.
This wine gave a strong fruit aroma from the first swirl.
It warmed me in my stomach and showed strong jammy fruit from start to
finish. The only disappointment I
had was seeing the empty bottle in front of me and not having ordered this wine
with my meal. God Speed Harry
Carey.
9/23/00
1998
Lolonis Carignane $ (14.99)
This grape is a tough one to stand-alone. Originating
in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of Southern France, the Greek winemaking
Lolonis brothers planted this in Redwood Valley, California.
Typically a blending grape, this could be dull and earthy.
This wine changed in the glass. Unfortunately, it went from a
fruity, smoky-cedar aroma and flavor, to a muted wine.
If the bottle held up like the first glass, this would have gotten 2.5
winos from me.
1998
Bogle Petite Sirah $ (9.99)
Not much to say, there was a watery color to this wine and a faint nose.
The fruit was weak and the finish was short.
Why waste words, this was not enjoyable for me.
9/15/00
1997
Chateau Cabrieres Chateuneuf du Pape $ (19.00)
From the first look at this wine in my glass, it had all I wanted; a rich deep
color, a spicy nose and good legs. Now
I know that legs do not carry any significance, but I still love to see them
stream down the glass early. This
was a good value wine. At less than 20 dollars, it had great fruit
flavors, a peppery after-draft in the back of my throat, and a smooth finish.
I enjoyed this with a rack of lamb and garlic mashed potatoes.
Red meats and smoked fish will also compliment this wine well.
9/10/00
1998
French Creek Ridge Viognier
Although
the bottle boasts that Pennsylvania will soon be the Rhone of the United States,
that will not happen in my wine drinking days.
Viognier is a backbone white grape of the Rhone Region and should be
refreshingly floral and fruity. The
disappointment with this wine comes from its short length on aroma and taste.
The hint is there, but it fades quickly and leaves a watery taste behind.
A good grape, not concentrated enough to challenge the likes of E. Gigal
from the northern Rhone.
9/9/00
1997
Beaulieu Vineyard George DeLatour Private Reserve
Cabernet Sauvignon $$$
(65.00)
This is a big, bold wine that fills your mouth and warms your throat from the
first taste. The only regret I have
is that I tasted it so young. This
wine needs time to rest, quietly, in the corner of the cellar, hibernating for
the next 5 years to let the tannins mute and the heritage of this wine to
blossom. As the bottle opened it
gave indications that this will mature well and be a wine to serve to special
dinner guests to complement a gourmet meal.
Fine crystal only…
9/9/00
I
was given a book recently entitled “Wine Memories: Great Writers on the
Pleasures of Wine”. It is a small book, quick to read, with labels of
memorable wines from writers Art Buchwald, Ernest Hemingway, Calvin Trillon,
Francis Coppola, Spalding Grey, John Steinbeck, Truman Copote, and Henry
Miller…. to name a few. The thing
I enjoyed most about it was that I have tasted 4 of the labels featured in the
book. Not bad for a beginner.
Remembering back to high school English class, these writers eloquently
paint pictures into our imagination with the words and phrases they select.
Since English was never my strong suit, this was a great book to read but
I needed a thesaurus to understand the content in several of the essays.
Since we all enjoy wine and, hopefully, we all can remember that dinner,
that setting, that experience that forever branded us as grape-aholics,
I would like to hear your stories, comments and blurbs.
I’d like to feature a wine experience each week from those who read our
pages. Email your favorite wine
experience to us or post it in the guest book.
9/8/00
In
the spirit of keeping this web review section as diverse as my liver can afford,
I had a new experience recently. A
colleague of mine gave me several bottles of wine from the eastern part of the
United States. In my duty to the faithful readers, I have now tasted a wine
which has rolled two new experiences into one.
First, the wine is 100% Cabernet Franc.
As a blending grape, I have enjoyed this many times over.
Second, this bottle was produced in the Southeastern part of
Pennsylvania. The label tells me
this is the “premier wine-growing region of the state”.
The French Creek Ridge Vineyard is located in Elverson, PA and they list
their phone number as 610-286-7754.
1997
French Creek Ridge Cabernet Franc
The nose on this one was quite unique in that I was first greeted with
the familiar scent of Cabernet Sauvignon. The
difference was that as the wine oxidized, a sweet scent reminiscent of toasted
marshmallows stayed through the remainder of the glass.
The wine was fruitful and smooth, but lacks the depth to stand alone for
the red wine lover in me. I do have
a bottle of their Merlot which I will be trying soon.
Maybe I can blend the two and lay the foundation for Pennsylvania
Bordeaux.
9/4/00
1997
Cuvee de La Couthiet $ (12.00)
This wine, not being from one of the major regions of the
northern Rhone, shows promise. It starts off harsh but mellows nicely in the
glass with time. The short fall is
that it never becomes the rich, thick fruity wine of its sister regions. An OK wine but not one to rave about.
9/2/00
As
the summer comes to a close and the last 3-day weekend is upon us for sometime,
what better way to enjoy and celebrate than a bottle of wine.
I stopped in a local store on my way home from work and, once again, was
“LABELIZED”. Labelized, the
word I use for being intrigued enough by the description on the back of the
bottle to buy the wine. As you know,
I am always in search of the California value - flavorful, hard to find, and
less than 20 dollars. As I read the
description and looked twice at the price, I figured I nailed a winner.
WRONG- disappointment came from the first sniff.
What promised to be a concentrated, well-balanced long-lasting wine was
anything but, in my opinion.
1998
Castle Rock Rhone Series California Cuvee Syrah
$
(9.99)
You would be better served buying lotto tickets with the 10 spot, or
heading to the Meadowlands and boxing the exacta in the fifth race.
As the label correctly states,” the superb Syrah grape originated in
the southern Rhone Valley of France.” They
go on to say, “ their wine is the most exciting Syrah to be introduced by a
California Winery.” The fruit was
not rich and plum filled, jammy, bold or long lasting.
They list their web page at www.castlerockwinery.com
and even invite one to call Mr. Gregory Popovich at 888-327-3777. Mr. Popovich will be on my Palm Pilot 'to do' list come this
Tuesday.
8/27/00
Be prepared, I am about to whine big time. This Friday I went to lunch at JR Tobacco, the place that I
have spoken highly of in the past. At
the retail wine shop, I purchased 3 bottles of wine, one to enjoy with lunch and
2 to bring home. After consuming
one bottle on which I will comment below, we opened a bottle of what the other 2
winos with me described as a good wine that should be the apex of our lunch.
It was the 1996 Mt. Veeder Reserve Meritage. At the cost of $48.00, I was
ready to be wowed. Upon the first swirl and sniff of the glass, the comment was
made that the wine smelled musty. So
the 3 of us swirled and sniffed and swilled and gagged. The wine did not have the taste we anticipated.
Being a frequenter to JR, I sought out the wine manager, who was out for
the afternoon. The counter help was
gone and the bartender never drinks wine. For
their expert, the bartender turned to an elderly patron at the bar, who just put
down his second scotch, and asked for his opinion.
At which point I was told, I should let it breath, it will open up.
Well, after one hour in the glass, the wine never opened, because it WAS
BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I
don’t know if it was due to the fact that it was a Friday, or the place is
changing, but no one there tried to help or even gave a crap.
I used to spend a lot of money on wine there.
They will not even know they lost a customer because no one thought it
was their job to rectify the situation. JR
Tobacco in northern NJ has one less patron as of yesterday.
The wine I did have with lunch was:
1997 Voss Shiraz $ (20.00)
Although the spelling hints of
down under, this California Syrah was rough at first.
The tannins softened as the wine oxidized, but never to the “pounding
intense fruit” boasted on the description.
This was good, but not great.
If the wine let more of the fruit come forward, it would have been a
better bottle.
1997 Kanonkop Kadette $ (9.99)
This South African blend is comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and
Ruby Cabernet.
The nose of this was all cab and the fruit came on strong during the
course of the bottle.
This is a 10-dollar wine that drank as well as the 20-dollar wine I had
for lunch.
Not one to bring to dinner, but definitely a wine for hacking around on a
lazy Saturday afternoon.
I recommend a nice cheese platter and some London broil sliced thin over
garlic toast.
8/22/00
1997
Fess Parker Syrah $ (17.00)
Looking to upgrade my image, I have gone to the more sophisticated wine sipper
for the image. I was not impressed
with this Syrah, it was not the big full fruity impact wine I expected.
It drank thin and still had tannin, tannin everywhere from first sip
through the end of the bottle. Oxidation
did little to bring the fruit forward in this wine.
Now I know who to serve the one in my cellar to…
8/18/00
“Another
Saturday night and I ain’t got nobody, I got some money cause I just got paid."
And what did I do with that money? I went right to the wine store and
bought 2 bottles for twenty bucks. Since
gourmet pizza was on the menu, I didn’t want to open the Cask23 again.
There is this great pizza joint one block away from the house, which puts
it in walking distance. This means
I can start drinking before I get the pizza.
I highly recommend the chicken Savoy pie. With that, I opened a Chilean Cabernet to see how it would
hold up.
1998
Casa Lapostolle Cabernet Sauvignon
$ (8.99)
This was not a wine I enjoyed. There
was not a great deal of fruit for palette to cling to.
Not overly tannin, not overly anything.
I actually did the unthinkable; I put an ice cube in to cool it down
slightly so I could finish off the glass. At
the lower temperature, the wine did appear a bit more enjoyable, but still not
one I will purchase again.
1998
Coppola Rosso $ (10.99)
As
Francis Ford Coppola notes on the bottle, this is an every day table wine, one I
could picture being served in a tumbler, on a red and white checkered table
cloth. This is a good pizza wine,
and as the second pie we had was a rigatoni and vodka sauce pizza, the wine went
well. Rosso is made up of
Zinfandel, syrah, cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese grapes and brings up a nice
fresh fruit taste. This is not a
dinning room wine, but a kitchen table Saturday night pizza wine that everyone
will enjoy.
8/4/00
1997
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Petite Sirah $$ (25.00)
I took the spelling of Sirah
from the label so don’t tell me I spelled it wrong.
This is a delightful wine, rich in fruit flavor, after the breathing time
necessary to muffle the tannins that dance on your tongue at first sip. A wine that will be great 5 years from now, but with if
placed in a crystal decanter one hour before dinner, you will enjoy this wine
with a nice juicy porterhouse grilled to medium rare.
1997
Campo Madonna Cabernet Sauvignon
I
had this at a friend’s house, so I do not know the price.
This Italian Cab comes from Tuscany, but was watery and thin for a
Cabernet. I expected a strong, full
wine, but was disappointed from the lack of staying power it had on the palette.
I guess I am a Super Tuscan Guy.
7/23/00
Keeping
with the Argentina wines for one more day, I purchased a bottle because of all
the good things it stated on the box. Yes,
this wine was in the bin in individual boxes.
The words "Coleccion Privada" and the Santiago Cogorno painting
caught my eye. The box stated that
this vineyard is widely recognized as Argentina’s finest estate winery.
This is the 2nd wine I tried from the Mendoza region that is
stated to be the country’s premier wine growing region in the foothills of the
Andes. There is even a website plainly printed on the box at www.ncorreas.com
1995
Navarro Correas Cabernet Sauvignon $ (11.99)
This is a Cabernet-Merlot blend but the bottle did
not have a percent of each listed. The
wine was good, but not long lasting. The fruit was there in the beginning
but quickly left your taste buds. The
color was a dark ruby hue and the wine had a good Cabernet aroma, but it left
you wanting a big bold taste, which was not there.
7/16/00
My oldest nephew is about to embark on a two-year mission to Argentina. As you can imagine, my family now knows everything and anything about this South American Country. So, being the Wino that I am, I started reading about their wine. There is not a great deal of information on wines available at this time, but I did manage to find a store locally that has a good selection so I bought several red wines. I laughed as I walked out with a case of mixed Argentinean Reds for less then 125.00. The most expensive wine in the cart was $27.00, a Grand Vin I am saving for his going away party. With dinner, I enjoyed one of my purchases. It was:
1996
Weinert Carrascal $
(9.00)
7/15/00
As I looked through the list of wines that I have commented on, and as I looked through the wines in my possession, I estimate that I am running at about six Reds to every one White I own and drink. So tonight, with Salmon on the menu, I passed by the Pinot Noir that I was thinking about and grabbed a chardonnay. To my delight, as you will see from the number of mice that join me, the only thing I could think of was how they made this red wine look like a chardonnay. I mean this was a full-bodied wine, with the weight and feel of a red. So without further ado, I bring you the Dead Guy’s recommendation for a wine we all can afford and, though a white, will satisfy the die-hard red wine drinkers amongst us.
1997
Wynns Coonawarra Estate Chardonnay $
(11.00)
Yes,
$11.00 and 3 mice says it all. This
wine has a rich full body, creamy texture and a great fruit-acid balance.
Again, $11 make this, in my humble opinion, a Great Wine….
For those who enjoy the high priced White Burgundies, this is no Grand
Cru; however, for $11, this is one of the best white wines this red wine drinker
has had to date. I can bring this
to a dinner at the home of someone I respect and not be embarrassed by an $11
bottle of wine. While some
California Chards are at the $50 level, it is good to know that there is a solid
white wine at a reasonable price. Buy
it, Drink it, Enjoy…
1997
Jayson Red Table Wine $$ 42.65
This
is 1.75 mice. For the cost of this wine, I expected more.
The label did not give the blending percent for the following grapes so I
am assuming the label placed them in descending order.
A Meritage consisting of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc,
Petite Verdot and Melbec. I was unimpressed. The fruit was okay, but did
not have the length and strength I expected from an Oakville, Ca., Bordeaux
style wine. In my humble opinion, save your money on this one.
I'd rather buy two bottles of BV Ensemble instead of the one Jayson.
7/08/00
1996
Chateau Bel Air Haut-Medoc
$$
I do not know the price of this wine, but I’m guessing 25-28
dollars. This was a gift from a
visitor to the Saturday night summer porch wine club. Friends brought this and, to my amazement, this wine was
drinkable. No major tannins hiding
the fruit here. This wine smelled
rich and full and drank well. I
recommend this for a great dinner compliment or sitting with friends on a
summer’s evening.
7/6/00
Did
you ever have one of those weeks when it feels like you lost a great many
battles; at home, at work, with friends. At
the end of the week, one of the people you went head-to-head with calls on you
and you do it with out a thought. At
the conclusion of last week, I was walking through the Kings supermarket, buying
a frozen dinner for myself, when I sought refuge in the wine department.
Feeling sorry for myself, and singing Janis Ian songs in my head cause
life was at the edge, I spotted a bottle of wine and laughed at the name.
It was so hitting that I bought it, not for the wine, not for the grape
style, but for the story on the back of the label.
I quote, “The faithful Hound label celebrates the memory of the dog
who, when abandoned by his master, kept a three year vigil outside an empty
cottage on Mulderbosch Farm. Sadly,
he died unrewarded for his loyalty.” I
learned the truth at seventeen………JI
1996
Stellenbosch Mulderbosh Faithful Hound $$
(21.99)
This Bordeaux style wine from one of South
Africa’s premier wine families is comprised of 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40%
Merlot, 10% Malbec and 9% Cabernet Franc. As
you can see by my mice count, this is a winner.
Great Bordeaux nose, drinkable now, under 25 dollars.
This will be a wine I introduce to friends, serve at dinner and give as
gifts. A great fruit-tannin balance
which gives structure to the wine without taking away from the heartiness of the
fruit. Find it. Buy it. Drink it.
7/5/00
1997
Geyser Peaks Meritage $$ (38.00)
Soft and mellow, this wine showed little tannin for a 1997.
A great compliment to the cheese and fruit platter served.
The full body of this blend stood up well to the sharp Blue Cheese.
The fruit did not come through as boldly as I expected.
The label did not identify the grape varietals and percent used of each
but, from my limited experience, it seemed like Merlot made up a significant
portion of this wine.
1997
Fife Latitude 39 $$ (32.00)
I liked this one better tan the Fife Max, which was another Rhone style
from Fife. This wine got better by
the glass, but still needs time in the bottle.
A harsh back draft killed the fruit on this wine in the beginning.
This diminished over time but leads me to believe that in 2 more years,
this will be a very pleasant wine.
7/02/00
1995
E. Gigal Cote Rotie
$$
I can only guess at the retail price, because I enjoyed this half bottle at a
restaurant. My guess is that this
is a 35-40 dollar bottle of wine and I will seek it
out in a store to confirm. For
lovers of the syrah grape, this is one of the two Mecca.
This wine was the perfect compliment to the rack of lamb I ordered. Full body, jammy, deep fruit and soft tannins gave this a
good structure. This wine is not
for the weak at heart. Prepare for
this, work up to it so it does not take your palette by storm.
1995
Cyrus $$ (32.00)
This estate bottled, premier vintage from Cyrus is made up of 78% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc.
Cyrus is the Wetzel family’s tribute to their 25th year of
fine winemaking. As I took in the
aroma of this wine, it made me look at the label for the alcohol content.
This was high, just by the smell and the label declared 13.9%. As the wine opened up in the glass, a powerful wine, though
young, proudly brought forward the Cabernet sauvignon. The scent of oaked fruit
overtook the alcohol aroma making me want to light up a fine cigar.
This wine should lie in the basement for the next 5 years with no
problem. Definitely a dinner table
wine or one to bring to a well-respected associate's house.